Emergency 9: Fantasy advice following the Farmers Insurance Open

Here are nine tidbits from the final round of the Farmers Insurance Open that gamers can use tomorrow, this weekend or down the road. Be looking for the Emergency 9 shortly after the close of play of each round of the tournament. One & Done After a six-hour round, Jason Day, Alex Noren and Ryan Palmer had more work to do. The warm and breezy conditions inflated scores on Sunday as Day (70) had the only card better than par of three. Palmer was eliminated on the first playoff hole as Noren and Day circled birdies. After five holes, the sun finally gave up and went to bed and the competitors were forced to come back on Monday.      The first playoff hole on Monday saw Day collect his 11th win on TOUR with his birdie on No. 18. Day had an eventful 2017 that frustrated gamers but we have to remember these are human beings as well. His mother was sick. His wife had a miscarriage. His caddy, mentor and coach, Col Swatton, was removed from his bag. His back injury scared off plenty on Wednesday but that’s just part of it moving forward. He has issues with it and if he can play through it, he will. If he can’t, well…Not a bad way to start the season as he joins the list of multiple winners at the Farmers Insurance Open and both have come in a playoff. He’s now cashed four top 10’s in nine starts at Torrey Pines. He led the field in birdies with 21 will help from his GIR numbers (T11) and his putter (T4). Swedish Thing Since his return from wrist issues in 2014, Alex Noren has won six times in 63 events worldwide. He’s exempt this season as his cash earned last year as a non-member would have put him in the top 125. Last year he cashed top 10’s at THE PLAYERS (10th), WGC-Dell Technologies Match Play (T5) and the Open Championship. The angle with Noren is just how many events he’s going to play but weekly gamers don’t have to worry about that! His P2 is the best of his bunch on U.S. soil and it’s obvious he has plenty of class to improve on that! Ryan’s Hope Ryan Palmer was first man out of the three-man playoff and his P2 was his best finish since T2 at the…2015 Waste Management Phoenix Open, the site of next week’s event. The Texan commented after the round that he’s in a really good place right now. His wife’s cancer is in remission and there’s obviously nothing wrong with his golf game. His monster up-and-down at the final hole to get into the playoff confirmed his sentiment. He finished in the top 10 in both driving categories and was third in putts per GIR.  Pick Your Horse Keegan Bradley followed his T4 from last year with fifth-place earnings this year. I don’t know what the rules on #NappyFactor might but he cashed solo second at the CIMB Classic a month before his son was born in November and adds another nice check this week. … J.B. Holmes made a business decision that took, er, some time on Sunday afternoon. On the final hole, trailing by two, he eventually decided to lay up. He eventually circled a birdie for solo fourth. This was his third top six in the last four years. … Charles Howell III posted one of the two rounds in the 60’s today (69) to claim his eighth top-10 finish in 16 tries. He’s never missed a weekend in those 16 years. Remarkable. It Ain’t Over Until It’s Over The other round in the 60’s on Sunday went to Hideki Matsuyama. His 69 matched Howell’s and moved him up 32 places to T12, his best finish in five tries. The Japanese star never threatened and the key to his success this week was his PUTTER?!?! He hit it all over the shop tee-to-green but when he found the putting surface he cashed in. He was T9 in putts per GIR. I won’t have to remind you he’s the two-time defending champion next week. Out of the Woods If more proof is needed that driving the golf ball accurately isn’t a requirement at Torrey Pines, please look no further. Tiger Woods has never driven the ball this poorly in an event. The large cat hit just 30.4 percent of the fairways this week but still beat Jon Rahm and finished inside the top 25 (T23). Imagine if he hit a few! He’s back at Riviera in a few weeks so gamers will have time to digest and over-analyze this week. Just how we like it! Familiar Names Harris English went three places better on the leaderboard this week with T8. He adds another top 10 to his playoff loss in 2015 and makes it six out of six at Torrey Pines. … Tom Hoge collected T12 after leading the South Course in SG: Tee-to-Green for the week. He’s now cashed in seven of eight starts this season and half have gone for top 25’s. … Brandon Harkins is a native Californian and is racking up the FedExCup points and cash in his home state. He opened the year T9 at the Safeway Open in Napa Valley. Last week he went one better with a T8 at the CareerBuilder Challenge. His T12 this week adds to the pile of top-25 finishes, six in eight events, this season. So Close Yet So Far Jon Rahm was a 7-4 favorite to win the tournament after 36 holes. The defending champion posted 75-77 on the weekend and couldn’t recreate his 65 from Sunday last year. … Michael Kim now has closing rounds of 80 in 2016 and 78 in 2018 when beginning the final round in touching distance of the lead. He began the day T3 and ended T23. … C.T. Pan went one better and signed for 79 to drop from T5 to T35. … Beau Hossler matched Pan’s 79 and matched his drop from T5 to T35. Hossler had a tough round last Saturday at the CareerBuilder Challenge to stall out but he keeps putting himself into position. … The Hunter Mahan experience continues to be a wait-and-see affair. Maybe I jinxed him after including him in Friday’s column. I try and only use my powers for good! He fired 78-79 on the weekend. He’ll be worth a look at TPC Scottsdale for those who love a long shot. More on that in The Confidence Factor on Tuesday! Study Hall Haotong Li played in the final group with Rory McIlroy Sunday at the Omega Dubai Desert Classic. The 23-year old budding star from China matched him shot-for-shot until he birdied the final two holes to win by one. They both shot 69 but Li’s one-shot lead after 54 holes held up. He becomes the first Chinese player to enter the OWGR top 50. … Tommy Fleetwood bags his fourth top-10 finish in a row and fifth in his last six events. …Byeong Hun An played his final three rounds 16-under-par to finish T6. An was in the mix at TPC Scottsdale last year before 73 on Sunday saw him end up sixth. … Ricky Barnes tweeted that he’s received a sponsor’s exemption for the Waste Management Phoenix Open this week. Barnes was T20 at CareerBuilder two weeks ago.

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